Strike



Aug. 20, 1935.

Filed May 21, 1934 Patented Aug. 20, 1935 UNITED STATES OFFIfiE.

.fs'rrmmv t f raters n. Robbins,l\ TorfoIk, Va. Application May 21, '1934,-Serial No. 726343 401mm (outs- 12 -My invention is related to kitchen and table articles, and more specifically to a strike for removing the foam from the top of a drinking vessel filled withjbeer or other effervescing fluid; or -for' removing the 'excess from any slightly overfilled measuring vessel in the culinaryart where ingredients are to bemixed in exact propo-rtions; as, for instance, so many cups of meal,

so :many cups of flour, so many cups of sugar, etc; r I

' An'object in'view is to provide a-device of "the character described, which, when not in use, Will always be supported in position to be easily and quickly grasped by the hand of the operator 7 '1 character in which, when the device is laid down Another object is to provide a device'wh-ich can be easily kept comparatively clean and sani- "tary, and in large-measure free from such contamination as usually befalls the ordinary devices of this character when in use.

" Still another object, with the above idea in View, is to provide a device so constructedthat when laid down-after use it will be inclined not only longitudinally but also transversely for facilitating drainage of fluids fromthe device.

Anotherobject is to provide a device of this character in which the handle will never touch the surface upon which the device rests, however carelessly it mayhave been laid down thereupon.

Another object is toprovide a device of this upon a flat surface, in any desiredposition, the

blade of the device will neverbe permitted to come into flat engagement with the surface, nor" will it ever be permitted to touch the surface at more than one diminutive point at any given time.

A still further object is to provide a .device of this character in which the hand of the user will be kept entirelycut of contact with thekfiuid that gets spreadupon the working portion of the blade While the device is in :use.

. Other objects will appear in the subjoined-de scription. w

Aleading feature of the device consists of a unitary blade preferably of a uniform width hav-' ing one end serving as a blade proper and the other end serving as a handle, with a rigid support between the-two sections of the blade, said support beingdisposed in a planeatrightangles to the longitudinal extent of theblade, and-projecting outwardly :from'the blade on allsides thereof, the handle-end of the device being lighter than the blade proper there'of, wher'eby' when the-device is laid down on a flat surface the support. v I I Y The invention consists in certain novelfeatures of construction and arrangement of parts,-

the blade will always be inclined" to the horizon tal, so that any fluid that may be adhering to it will drain off at the end thereof farthest from as will be hereinafter shown and described, reference being had to the accompanying drawing,

in which 'Fig; 1 is a plan view of one form-of hey improved strike.

Fig. 24s asectional view taken on'the-line 2 -2 of Fig.- 1, looking in the direction of the arrow; I

Fig. 3 is an end'view of the handle-end of the device. Fig. 4 is a .perspectiveview showing the device supported on a fiat surface.

Fig.5 is aside elevation, on a reduced scale,

showing -the device supported with its blade in avertical plane to facilitate drainageof fluid from the blade. i

Sis a diminutive view showing the device striking the foam froma mug of effervescent fluid; and,

l indicates the blade proper of the form of my device illustrated in Fig.; '1.- This'blade is S- shaped in cross-section, as illustrated in Fig. 2,

whereby itis formed on either side adjacent its edge with a longitudinally-extending corruga-' tion la.

The other end of the blade is formed into a handle 2 which is' provided with. a roughened: surface, so that the handle may be moresecurely;

grasped. r I

1-"At' the point of junction of th e blade proper I I and the-handle end I is the support 3 whichlsur H rounds the blade on all sides thereof,and isdisposed in a plane at right "angles'to thelongitudinal extent of the blade; The blade proper and' the handle and the support" are preferably formed integral with each other; M

Fig. '3 shows that the general shape of the support is rectangular with its four edges concaved, the longer concaves being indicated by a and b,

and the shorter by c and d, thereby'forr'ning the corners of'the support into four contact points indicated by the numerals 4, 5, 6 and "I, respectively; i

"The blade proper at itspoint of junction f with-thesupport. 3, is provided "on each edge with a notch 8 to prevent fluid from running along either edge of the blade into contact with the;

support3, the object being to always keep the support as free as possible from contact with any portion of the fluid.

As appears from Figs. 4 and 5, it will be seen that the corners of the support 3 are curved, and that these curved contact pointslcorners) of the support 3, and thecurved outer end of the blade 10 present such "extremely small areas of con.- tact as to be almost unappreciable.

above'the top of the vessel may be struck off with the blade of the device.

From Fig; 3 it will be seenthat whether the device he supported on the contact points 4 and 5, or the contacts 6 and I, the blade will in either case be heldin a verticalplane for drainage purposes, as further illustrated in Fig. 5; whereas from Fig. 4 it will :b eseen that whether the device is supported on the contacts 5 andli or on the contacts! and L the blade and handle will in either case beheld in an inclined horizontal position. V v a 1 Inlike manner it will be seen from Fig. 7, that on whichever of the contact points (whether the terial, thereby most effectually removing it from the top of the vessel.

If at any time the device is held in a-way to elevate the outer end of the bladeproper above the handle end, thereby causing fluid on the ;blade to run down the edge thereof towardthe support 3, the fluid wil l'drop off the blade when it reaches the notches 8. Thus the support 3 serves as a shield to prevent the hand of the operator from touching and soiling the blade proper, while at the same time the notches 8 prevent the fluid adhering to the blade from getting onto theother side of the support in a way and in quantities thatwould cause it to overspread the surface of the support and work around the same onto the other side thereof where itwould gum up the handle and soil the,

hand of the user, which is very objectionable, becausethe operator is handling money which has passed through thehands of all sorts of 4 people and has been in all sorts of places; and

it is desirable to keep his hands out of contact, bothdirect and. indirect, with the blade proper which comes into direct contact with the fluid itself which istobe drunk; a

Ordinarily a simple flat blade is used to strike the foam; from fluids sold for drinks; and the blade is laid down flat on thetable withthe fluid on it, after it hasjust been used, and the operator often has difliculty and experiences delay in picking itup, and in the process frequently-gets his hands all over it,- as with his finger nails he digs,

v, under the very edge of the device with which he from the standpoint of cleanliness there is no comparison between the ordinary striker and my improved sanitary striker, herein set forth.

The operation of thedevice has already been so fullyset forth in the above description that further description. thereofiis deemed unnecessary.

i What I claim as new and desire to protect by Fig. 6 shows how easily any material, either" fluid or granular or powdered, which projects 1 Letters Patent is:-

1. A device of the character described, com- ,prisingan elongated blade having a working portion' and a'handle portion, with a transverse support surrounding said parts at their junction, said support comprising a substantially rectangular disk surrounding the blade and projecting radially therefrom, the blade being transversely inclinedat 45 to each side of saidutransverse support, whereby to adapt the blade transversely Y to assume by gravity; an angle of 45:toa flat surface when laid thereupon with any one of the four sidespf its rectangular support in engagement with said surface;

' 2,;A device of the character described, comprising a flat two-edged blade of even width throughout its length and having a working portion and, a handle portion; and a rectangular support, between said portions for holding the 1 bladeout of flat engagement with av fiat horizontal surface when thedevice is laid thereupon, said support forming a shield to keep the hand of the operatorat the oneendof the device out .of contact with the fluidon the other end thereof, said working portion of the blade havinga notch on either edge thereof at the inner end of the working portio-n of the blade where it joins the support; whereby fluid traveling inwardly along the edges of the blade while the device is in use will drop 01? when said notches are reached and will not reach said shield. j

3. A device of the'character described, comprising an elongated blade having a, working portion and ahandle portion; and a support between said portions for holding the blade out of flat engagement with a flat surface, Whenthe device; is laid thereupon, said support comprising a disk surrounding the blade, and projecting radially therefrom, and forming a shield to keep the hand of the operator at the one end of the device out" of contact with the fluid on the other end thereof, the working end of the blade being S-shaped in cross section, whereby to form a longitudinal trough adjacent each edge of the blade on 01 1 1 site sides-thereof; said working portion of the.

blade also having a notch leading inwardly from either edge thereof at the inner end of each ofsaid troughs, whereby fluid traveling inwardly; along said troughs of the blade, while the device is in use, will drop oif when :said' notches are reached, and will, not reach said shield.

4. .A device of thecharacter described, .com-' prising an elongated blade having a Working portion and a handle portion, with a transverse support surrounding saidparts at their junction, said support comprising a disk surrounding the, blade and projecting radially therefrom, and having'four peripheral edges on1y, each being dis-g posed at an equal angle to the transverse extent of the blade, wherebyzto adapt the blade trans-' versely to assume by gravity an equal angle of inclination toa flat surface, when the device is laid thereupon, regardless of which edgeof the disk may be caused to rest upon said flat sur-' face, eachof said side edges being slightly concaved and each corner slightly rounded off.

- ROBERT D. ROBBINS. 

